The disABLED have many needs which challenge their lives.
People with disabilities face financial needs, mobility issues, lack of quality
housing, as well as struggling with prescription medicine costs. There is help
available. Government disability benefits, assistive technology devices, special
housing funds, home modifications and others are all benefits which are available
to the disABLED.

It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people,
who have little or no income; and

It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing,
and shelter.

Tax credit for those with a disability.There are several tax credits and benefits available to
qualifying taxpayers with disabilities as well as to the parents of disabled
children. Listed below are several tax credits and other benefits available if
you or someone else listed on your federal tax return is disabled.
Note: the IRS page has info from the year 2008. They are
updating info.http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204070,00.html

Homestead Tax Exemption
This program enables those who own their home (and reside there), are elderly or
permanently disabled, plus meet the income requirements; to receive a tax refund
from your paid property taxes. Each state has different requirements so do a
search for "Homestead tax exemption+county/state" (where county/state is put your
home location, such as: hancock county florida).

Grants
Finding funding as a disabled individual is difficult at best. If you are seeking
money say to, start a small business from home, it will be a challenge! Grants
would be an ideal funding option but are hard to find. I have provided this site
to help start the process of grantwriting. There is plenty of good information
here. Best of luck.http://fdncenter.org/

Give.orgList of national charities and their annual reports (if made
available). If you have a charity which you need to contact or donate to; this
list is updated regularly.http://www.give.org/

NAUPAThe National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators
(NAUPA) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the National Association of
State Treasurers. Note: This is a searchable site. See if you have unclaimed
properties.http://www.unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner

The Chanda Plan
FoundationProvides financial assistance to access integrative therapies
for persons with physical disabilities that are otherwise unable to access due to
limited financial resources.http://www.thechandaplanfoundation.org/

FundsnetservicesSince 1996 Fundsnet Services has provided resources information
about grants, fundraising, philanthropy, foundations and 501(c)(3) non-profits
organizations to those in need of funding and research for their their
philanthropic efforts and missions.http://www.fundsnetservices.com

Friends of Man
Charity"Friends of Man, the charitable arm of the Institute for the New
Man, gives help to people who find themselves in a situation where they have
nowhere else to turn. It may be an elderly person on a fixed income, a working
family whose child is struck by severe illness, an accident victim, a disabled
person, or a schoolchild whose family can't afford basic needs."http://www.friendsofman.org/FOM_Home.htm

Caring Voice
CoalitionAt the Caring Voice Coalition we understand that the diagnosis
of a chronic disease often results in situations and emotions that deeply impact
a persons life. Visits to the doctor, complex treatment regimens and periodic
hospitalizations make daily life harder to manage. Financial burdens caused by
medical appointments, insurance costs and therapy co-payments may strain already
limited financial resources. And feelings of depression, fear, and anxiety may
make it hard to manage day-to-day needs, to plan and to hope for the future. To a
person living with a life-threatening chronic disease, these challenges are often
all too real.http://www.caringvoice.org/

American Action Fund- The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is a
service agency which specializes in providing to blind people help which is not
readily available to them from government programs or other existing service
systems. It operates through countless volunteers across the nation, overseen by
a volunteer board. The purpose of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and
Adults is to assist blind and deaf-blind persons in securing reading matter, to
educate the public about blindness, to provide specialized aids and appliances to
the blind, to give consultation to governmental and private agencies serving the
blind, to offer assistance to those losing vision in their later years, to offer
services to blind children and their parents, and to work towards improving the
quality of life for the blind and deaf-blind.American Action Fund

State-by-State Help for Family Caregivers- "Family Care Navigator helps family caregivers locate public, nonprofit, and private programs and services nearest their loved one—living at home or in a residential facility. Resources include government health and disability programs, legal resources, disease-specific organizations and more."https://caregiver.org/family-care-navigator

YouCaring- YouCaring is a free fundraising website created for individuals wanting
to raise funds for medical expenses, memorials and funerals, tuition assistance,
adoption fundraising, funding for mission trips and helping another in need. It
provides a simple and organized way to implement your fundraiser ideas and help
achieve, or exceed your fundraising goals.http://www.youcaring.com/

Federal Domestic Assistance
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all
Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District
of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and
possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private
profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and
individuals.https://www.cfda.gov/

Job websites for individuals with
disability seeking employment: *You can make an attempt to work without
sacrificing any of your disability benefits. See the "Red Book"
publication:HERE

Vocational Rehabilitation Offices - VR
assists those individuals to secure gainful employment commensurate with their
abilities and capabilities through local job searches and awareness of
self-employment and telecommuting opportunities.http://www.jan.wvu.edu

ProtectYourIncome.com contains
information and guidance on disability insurance. It also has an
employment page that lists many resources for the disabled, from finding a job
to starting a small business.http://www.protectyourincome.com

The AbilityLinks mission is to increase
employment of qualified persons with disabilities. Non profits, businesses and
government agencies join the AbilityLinks Consortium to demonstrate support for
this mission and gain access to disability employment networking
opportunities.http://www.abilitylinks.org

JobAccess and ABILITYJobsEnabling people with disabilities to enhance their
professional lives by providing a dedicated system for finding
employment.http://abilityjobs.com/

National Collaborative on Workforce and
Disability for YouthAssists state and local workforce development systems to
better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities and other
disconnected youth.http://www.ncwd-youth.info/

Working while receiving SSDI benefits - I
am currently receiving disability benefits, and I would like to work part-time.
Will working affect my ability to receive disability benefits?http://kasuniclaw.com/articles/article_6.html

Association of People Supporting
EmploymentFirst (APSE) - APSE is the only national organization with an
exclusive focus on integrated employment and career advancement opportunities
for individuals with disabilities. APSE is a growing national non-profit
membership organization, founded in 1988 and is now known as Association of
People Supporting EmploymentFirst (APSE).http://www.apse.org/

SourceAmerica -
"SourceAmerica (formerly NISH), a national nonprofit, is the leading source of job opportunities for a dedicated and highly qualified workforce  people with significant disabilities. Through our work, we make the American Dream more accessible to a segment of the population where nearly 80% do not have jobs."http://www.sourceamerica.org/

Attempting to increase your annual income is a
worthy, responsible but yet difficult goal. I would venture to say that it's
easier to find ways to cut your expenses than to increase your income.

The truth of the matter is that most folks on disability fall into this category. And unless you have
the skill, time, and drive to change your financial situation for the better,
it's time to start finding ways to save YOUR money. Please don't get me wrong,
I'm not saying that you should give up trying to supplement your income but if
you find yourself constantly coming up short at the end of the month, let's try
and cut you debts.

What's available:

Homestead Tax Exemption
This program enables those who own their home (and reside there), are elderly or
permanently disabled, plus meet the income requirements; to receive a tax refund
from your paid property taxes. Each state has different requirements so do a
search for "Homestead tax exemption+county/state" (where county/state is put your
home location, such as: hancock county florida).

Low Income Energy
Assistance
If you can't afford to pay your home energy bill, your home may not be safe, and
you may be at risk of serious illness or injury. The Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a Federally-funded program to help eligible low
income home-owners and renters meet their home heating and/or cooling
needs.http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap/

SNAP
SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals
and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest
program in the domestic hunger safety net. The Food and Nutrition Service works
with State agencies, nutrition educators, and neighborhood and faith-based
organizations to ensure that those eligible for nutrition assistance can make
informed decisions about applying for the program and can access benefits. FNS
also works with State partners and the retail community to improve program
administration and ensure program integrity.http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap

Weatherization Assistance
Program
The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to
permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy
efficient.http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/wap.html

State Medicaid
Programs"Medicaid is health insurance that helps many people who can't
afford medical care pay for some or all of their medical bills. Many groups of
people are covered by Medicaid. Even within these groups, though, certain
requirements must be met. These may include your age, whether you are pregnant,
disabled, blind, or aged; your income and resources (like bank accounts, real
property, or other items that can be sold for cash); and whether you are a U.S.
citizen or a lawfully admitted immigrant. The rules for counting your income and
resources vary from state to state and from group to group. There are special
rules for those who live in nursing homes and for disabled children living at
home."http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility

Childrens Liver Association for Support
Services"The Childrens Liver Association for Support Services
(C.L.A.S.S.) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the
emotional, educational, and financial needs of families coping with childhood
liver disease and transplantation. Our goal is to be both a service to families
and a valuable resource for the medical community."http://www.classkids.org/

Corporate Angel
Network"The only charitable organization in the USA whose sole mission
is to ease the emotional stress, physical discomfort and financial burden of
travel for cancer patients by arranging free flights to treatment centers, using
the empty seats on corporate aircraft flying on routine business."http://www.corpangelnetwork.org

HeatShare"When you give to HeatShare, you are helping warm the lives of
the elderly, disabled and others who have nowhere else to turn. HeatShare is a
last resort for many who have no other resouces available to see them through the
winter."http://www.angelfire.com/mn/hshare/

Charity Cars, Inc."One of our missions is to provide a free vehicle and vehicle
support services to assist disadvantaged families in their transition from
dependency to self-sufficiency. Additionally we engage in other activities that
will uplift humanity which includes providing funds to other organizations that
share the 1-800-Charity Cars vision."http://www.800charitycars.org/

Your Rights

U.S. Department of Justice Guide to Disability
Rights covers many topics that are important to everyday living with a
disability.http://www.ada-infonet.org/

TASH -A
leader in disability advocacy for more than 35 years, the mission of TASH is to
promote the full inclusion and participation of children and adults with
significant disabilities in every aspect of their community, and to eliminate the
social injustices that diminish human rights.http://tash.org/